Nesara Krishna, Gunasekaran Dhandapany, Basu Sharbari
Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, 605 006, India.
Department of Pediatrics, JIPMER, Puducherry, 605 006, India.
Indian Pediatr. 2025 Jun 2. doi: 10.1007/s13312-025-00099-1.
To evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic biweekly Iron and Folic acid (IFA) supplementation (National Iron Plus Initiative) in maintaining iron status in under-five children with iron sufficiency.
Consecutive healthy children screened for normal iron status (normal hemoglobin and serum ferritin) were started on iron prophylaxis as one mL syrup containing 20 mg elemental iron and 100 µg folic acid biweekly for six months. The pre- and post-supplementation hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels were compared.
Out of 573 children screened, none were receiving IFA prophylaxis routinely. A total of 173 out of 200 eligible children completed the intervention with a significant increase in the mean (SD) hemoglobin [11.7 (0.5)-11.9 (0.5) g/dL] and serum ferritin [54.5 (23.5)- 63.6 (21.1) µg/L] at six months (P < 0.001).
Biweekly iron and folic acid supplementation improved iron status in children aged 1 to 5 years with iron sufficiency.
评估预防性每两周补充铁和叶酸（国家强化铁计划）对铁充足的五岁以下儿童维持铁状态的疗效。
对筛查出铁状态正常（血红蛋白和血清铁蛋白正常）的连续健康儿童开始进行铁预防，每两周服用1毫升含20毫克元素铁和100微克叶酸的糖浆，持续六个月。比较补充前后的血红蛋白和血清铁蛋白水平。
在筛查的573名儿童中，无人常规接受铁和叶酸预防。200名符合条件的儿童中，共有173名完成了干预，六个月时平均（标准差）血红蛋白[11.7（0.5）-11.9（0.5）克/分升]和血清铁蛋白[54.5（23.5）-63.6（21.1）微克/升]显著增加（P<0.001）。
每两周补充铁和叶酸可改善1至5岁铁充足儿童的铁状态。
